New Hampshire Attorney General Michael A. Delaney announces that Robert Bates, DDS, President of Allcare Dental Management, LLC, and Allcare Dental and Dentures of NH, PC (collectively "Allcare"), has voluntarily surrendered his license to practice dentistry in New Hampshire, pursuant to a Consent Decree signed by Dr. Bates and approved by the New Hampshire Board of Dental Examiners on May 9, 2012. Dr. Bates' license surrender resolves allegations of professional misconduct that were scheduled to be the subject of a disciplinary hearing before the Board of Dental Examiners.

Allcare abruptly closed all of its dental offices in thirteen states, including two in New Hampshire, on or about January 1, 2011. Patients arriving for appointments found a note on the door informing them that the offices were closed. Allcare has since filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in United States Bankruptcy Court in Buffalo, New York. After Allcare closed, the New Hampshire Department of Justice and the Board of Dental Examiners received more than 143 complaints from patients claiming to have had their dental treatment discontinued. According to the complaints, at the time of Allcare's closing many of these patients had had their teeth extracted and were waiting for permanent dentures that they never received, and many of these patients had pre-paid for dental care that they did not receive.

Dr. Bates incorporated Allcare in New Hampshire in 2006, soon after obtaining a New Hampshire dental license. Under New Hampshire law, Dr. Bates was "practicing dentistry" although he did not treat patients in the State. Dr. Bates was therefore responsible for his and Allcare's failures to fulfill various legal and ethical duties that arose when a dental practice ceases operations. According to the terms of the Consent Decree, Dr. Bates acknowledged that he and Allcare failed to inform patients prior to the closure, that neither he nor Allcare provided any further treatment to Allcare's patients after Allcare closed, and that he and Allcare failed to be available to provide emergency care for Allcare patients following the closure.

In addition to New Hampshire, Dr. Bates has been the subject of actions taken by the dental licensing boards of Massachusetts, West Virginia, and North Dakota.